Arka0415 wrote:This is true, but against Power Armor no conventional melee weapon is effective unless it is thrust through the helmet lenses or neck guard, both of which are nigh-impossible targets for Tau. Remember that Power Armor can easily deflect an armor-piercing rocket-powered 100mm anti-tank round, so there's no knife in the Tau arsenal, no matter how sophisticated, that could pull off such a feat in the hands of an ordinary Fire Warrior I think.

You are actually wrong about that. The tau have bonding knives, which can be used as a weapon in the game fire warrior, and it does a pretty good job at piercing power armor Not to mention equalizers and honor blades, which are basically just regular swords.

Arka0415 wrote:That's what's so fun about 40k though. Power Armor is nearly-indestructible, Space Marines are basically transhuman demigods of war, and Bolters are actual rocket launchers... yet they're the regular chumps of the 40k universe. They get blasted apart by Pulse Rifles and butchered by Orks, who in turn are no match against Terminators, which get stomped on by XV8s, and it goes on and on until you get to Titans and Primarchs and literal gods.

Speaking of which, I actually wish the chaos gods had actual models, around the size of a warlord titan, and costing something like 3k, 4k points

Torch wrote:Outside of unarmed combat, what would be the "preferred" melee weapon for T'au. Considering that the fire caste is heavily influenced by hunting tactics, would they prefer spears over knives or swords? The fact that Ethereals use honor blades that look like halberds, it could make sense. Spears follow the same principles as bows in that they create a manageable distance between fighters. Any other info on this?

I would say that their favored weapon would be some sort of long curved blade, made with some kind of process of combining 2 types of metal, one soft and one hard and folding them to form a carbon microstructure with differential heat treatment to give it the curve. It would be accompanied by a shorter version of it for close quarters combat

Arka0415 wrote:This is true, but against Power Armor no conventional melee weapon is effective unless it is thrust through the helmet lenses or neck guard, both of which are nigh-impossible targets for Tau. Remember that Power Armor can easily deflect an armor-piercing rocket-powered 100mm anti-tank round, so there's no knife in the Tau arsenal, no matter how sophisticated, that could pull off such a feat in the hands of an ordinary Fire Warrior I think.

You are actually wrong about that. The tau have bonding knives, which can be used as a weapon in the game fire warrior, and it does a pretty good job at piercing power armor.

Except Bonding Knives just can't do that. The Fire Warrior game has plenty of lore issues, and that's one of them. If an armor-piercing rocket cannot penetrate Power Armor, a ceremonial knife certainly can't. The Bonding Knife in that game was just a renamed Power Sword.

Arka0415 wrote:This is true, but against Power Armor no conventional melee weapon is effective unless it is thrust through the helmet lenses or neck guard, both of which are nigh-impossible targets for Tau. Remember that Power Armor can easily deflect an armor-piercing rocket-powered 100mm anti-tank round, so there's no knife in the Tau arsenal, no matter how sophisticated, that could pull off such a feat in the hands of an ordinary Fire Warrior I think.

You are actually wrong about that. The tau have bonding knives, which can be used as a weapon in the game fire warrior, and it does a pretty good job at piercing power armor.

Except Bonding Knives just can't do that. The Fire Warrior game has plenty of lore issues, and that's one of them. If an armor-piercing rocket cannot penetrate Power Armor, a ceremonial knife certainly can't. The Bonding Knife in that game was just a renamed Power Sword.

Then how do you explain the fire warriors I built that are holding the bonding knife the right way (from the blade)? Are you telling me they won't be beating the crap out of marines with that knife handle?

Temennigru wrote:Then how do you explain the fire warriors I built that are holding the bonding knife the right way (from the blade)? Are you telling me they won't be beating the crap out of marines with that knife handle?

If you hold it by the blade that's a totally different story! Definitely counts-as Heavy Thunder Hammer.

If T'au had some kind of martial art it would have their origin in the fire caste thus it would be something based on pure effectivity without any form of art or bloating.Most people would imagine T'au with Katanas/Samurai Swords but these weapons emerged from a culture which saw smithing and fighting as form of art.Melee weapons, created by the earth caste and used by the fire caste would be more straight forward, practical.Just like the Ethereals' honour blade: Sharp, edgy, easy to build.

Tau'fann as you can see I've been working on this for a while now. Please note that this is a work-in-progress (WIP), and is by no means set in stone or definitive. Although a version of this already does exist in the Expanded Tau Lexicon. But this version is cleaned up a bit more. Therefore I wanted to share this with the community at this time.

NOTE: There was no Tau term for 'Honor Blade' so I created one, with the word "rón" meaning honor, and "shu" for pole arm or halberd.

Combat Arts - Contemporary Hand-to-HandMont’nan’ka’tuke:....{mil. term. & martial arts} ‘Combat Art of Blade, Strike, and Hoof’, the current close combat system used by the Fire caste. The system combines hand strikes, foot work, and traditional blade work. [T.E. & F.E.]

Contemporary Martial Art SportNan'ka'tuk'ike:.....{martial arts & sports} ‘The Art of Blade, Strike, and Hoof’, a combination of Tau hand fighting, foot work, and traditional blade styles. Originally used a method to teach hand-to-hand combat, the sport of nan'ka'tuk'ike has declined as fire caste tactics de-emphasised close combat in favour of ranged combat. [Note: Nan'ka'tuk'ike is still practiced in the Farsight Enclaves.]

Combat Weapons (Contemporary)Ta'lissera'myr:.....{mil. term.} n. ‘covenant knife’ or ‘bonding knife’, a small ceremonial knife not intended for combat. Carried by a Firewarrior leaders to indicate his/her role as team leader, and to signify that the team is a bonded by the 'ta'lissera' ceremony. [F.E.].

Ta'lissera'mont'myr:.{mil. term.} n. ‘bonding war knife’, a version of the ‘Bonding knife’ which is intended for combat. Carried by a Firewarrior leaders to indicate his/her role as team leader, and to signify that the team is a bonded by the 'ta'lissera' ceremony. [F.E.].

Mont'myr:........‘war knife’ The same single-edged weapon as the ceremonial ‘bonding knife’, but which is intended for combat. Carried by an ‘acting’ team leader. When carried as a ‘bonding knife’, it is called a Ta'lissera'mont'myr: a ‘bonding war knife’ [F.E.].

Mont'nan:........‘war blade’ or 'combat blade', a one-handed, single-edged weapon, similar in weight and design to the larger bonding knives carried by Stealth Team leaders. Standard issue weapon is carried by all fire warriors in the Farsight Enclaves. [F.E.].

Rón Shu’nan:.....‘honour blade halberd’, a tradition pole weapon carried by members of the Ethereal caste. Used both a badge of office, and as in the bloodless duels between individual ethereals. [T.E.]

Rón D’shu’nan:.....‘honour blade twin halberd’, a tradition pole weapon carried by members of the Ethereal caste as a badge of office, but which has blades on both ends of the weapon. Made famous my the ethereal Aun’O’Shi. [T.E.]

Traditional WeaponsMont'nanal:.....{historical} ‘small war blade’, a small dagger carried by ancient Tau warriors.

Mont'myr:.....{historical} 'war knife', a one-handed, single-edged sword, intended for use in personal defence. Favoured by ancient Tau equestrians, often used as badge of office in ancient times.

Mont'r'myr:.....{historical} 'war long knife' A one-and-a-half handed, single-edged curved weapon, intended for use in mounted warfare, like the Tau 'R'nan'. Favoured by by ancient Tau equestrians of ancient T'au [In common use in the [F.E.].

Mont'r'alm:.....{historical} 'long war axe’, a very long handled axe used by mounted ancient Tau nomadic cavalry.

Mont'r'nan:.....{historical} ‘war long blade’, a two handed, single-edged or double edged weapon, intended for use in dis-mounted warfare. [In common use in the F.E.].

Mont'nanal:.....{historical} ‘small war blade’ A small dagger carried by ancient Tau warriors.

Mont'myr:.....{historical} 'war knife', a one-handed, single-edged sword, intended for use in personal defence. Favoured by ancient Tau equestrians, often used as badge of office in ancient times.

Mont'r'myr:.....{historical} 'war long knife', a one-and-a-half handed, single-edged curved weapon, intended for use in mounted warfare, like the Tau 'R'nan'.Favoured by by ancient Tau equestrians of ancient T'au [In common use in the F.E.].

Mont'r'alm:.....{historical} 'long war axe’, a very long handled axe used by mounted ancient Tau nomadic cavalry.

Mont'r'nan:.....{historical} ‘war long blade’, a two handed, single-edged or double edged weapon, intended for use in dis-mounted warfare. [In common use in the F.E.].

Now I want to know want kind of "horses" T'au had if they had cavalry.

Ricordis wrote:If T'au had some kind of martial art it would have their origin in the fire caste thus it would be something based on pure effectivity without any form of art or bloating.Most people would imagine T'au with Katanas/Samurai Swords but these weapons emerged from a culture which saw smithing and fighting as form of art.Melee weapons, created by the earth caste and used by the fire caste would be more straight forward, practical.Just like the Ethereals' honour blade: Sharp, edgy, easy to build.

Samurai preferred the Yari and Naginata over the Katana. The Yari was just a spear, while the Naginata was more like a polearm with a long blade at the end. Ethereal Honor Blades look really similar to Naginata... Even then, they preferred bows above any melee weapon. And they took to guns a lot faster than European knights.

Torch wrote:Now I want to know want kind of "horses" T'au had if they had cavalry.

Tau HorseRat'laa: [comp.] n. {biology} 'horse', an animal comparable to the ancient Terran horse ferus caballus; andwhich occupies the same biological, historical, and cultural place as the horse does on Terra. However the Tau animal Equus cervus taus most closely resembles the ancient Terran ungulates like the 'Elk' or 'Moose' but sans the antlers.

Tau CamelRakuda: n. {biology} 'camel' a large Tau ungulate similar to the ancient Terran camels or llamas, [Some breeds are as large as the Kroot knarloc!].

If you notice the list of traditional weapons there long axes, similar to those used by the horsemen of Central Asia. Which is what I've always seen the horsemen of the Tau plains being like. However they just as well could have been like the plains Indians or even the Bedouin.

Torch wrote:Now I want to know want kind of "horses" T'au had if they had cavalry.

Ricordis wrote:If T'au had some kind of martial art it would have their origin in the fire caste thus it would be something based on pure effectivity without any form of art or bloating.Most people would imagine T'au with Katanas/Samurai Swords but these weapons emerged from a culture which saw smithing and fighting as form of art.Melee weapons, created by the earth caste and used by the fire caste would be more straight forward, practical.Just like the Ethereals' honour blade: Sharp, edgy, easy to build.

Samurai preferred the Yari and Naginata over the Katana. The Yari was just a spear, while the Naginata was more like a polearm with a long blade at the end. Ethereal Honor Blades look really similar to Naginata... Even then, they preferred bows above any melee weapon. And they took to guns a lot faster than European knights.

Xhmm, I'd hadn't thought of that? Wait yes I have! Here's a story all about Tau jetbikes: Ghost Horse

Ghost Horse-Chapter 1 wrote:Dai'tsin looked at the prototype jetbike as it slowly rotated, illuminated as it was from both above and below. The jetbike seemed like something almost alive, shimmering as it did, in chromium cobalt blue with dark charcoal grey highlights. The first thing that struck him was how small it was. Not even half the length of an Ar'cea jetbike, and it appeared to be all engine! The seat positioned such that the pilot's legs straddled the main exhaust. “A very precarious position to be sitting,” thought Dai'tsin.

The engine appeared to have been lifted straight from a XV-86 Coldstar Battleuit. And its intake appeared to be a small air scoop, that to Dai'tsin, resembled nothing more than the mouth of a fish. Now just below and slightly ahead of the pilot's foot rests, the jetbike sported two long swept backed wings, downward angled. The line of the fuselage, if one could call the slight body work of the jetbike a fuselage, then angled high and ended in a single swept back vertical tail, with longer twin vee tails below. Viewing the jetbike in a full profile, it seemed to Dai'tsin not so much a jetbike; but rather a large aquatic predator. What's more the jetbike looked like as if it were about to launch itself from the dais.

'Strange that any earth caste vehicle would give me such a feeling. Not even a TX-2 or TX-4 skimmers, which are the most creature like tau vehicles, ever made me feel this way,' thought Dia'tsin unable to pull his eyes from the small sleek jetbike.

Read the story (not finished) and you'll see the relationship between riding a "horse" and riding a "jetbike". And what will you fight with from you're Tau jetbike? Why a shash'xa of course!